According to the new, reflexively defensive school of thought, it is not fair to call people racist. The proponents of this school of thought say that racist people believe others are inferior, and there is no way of knowing what the angry Caucasians in Charlottesville, Va., toting tiki torches, or people like Donald Trump, actually believe. Unless we can see what they feel in their hearts, they say we should not slander them with the term “racist.”
There is no way of knowing what Seattle Police Officer Cynthia Whitlatch believes in her heart. All we can say is that Cynthia Whitlatch has done racist things. She posted numerous racist tirades to social media. She once arrested a man for “walking while black.” A judge awarded a black man more than $1 million after a jury found that Whitlatch violated his civil rights. But we must be careful not to paint Whitlatch as a racist cop because she is endowed with the privilege of innocent whiteness.
On July 9, 2014, not racist Cynthia Whitlatch was patrolling the Capitol Hill area of Seattle when she spotted William Wingate walking around the area with a golf club.
Because William Wingate is black, he is not afforded the same presumption of innocence as Whitlatch. Because William Wingate is black, Officer Whitlatch assumed that the golf club was probably a weapon. Even though Wingate was 69 years old. Even though Wingate was using the golf club as a walking cane. Even though he took the same walk to pick up newspapers, with the same golf club, every day. No, dear reader, William Wingate was probably up to something.
Whitlatch immediately got out of her car and yelled at the elderly Air Force veteran to drop his club. She repeatedly asked him to do it, but Wingate kept telling her that he couldn’t hear her. He instead asked her what was going on. She said the golf club was a weapon. He told her he’s been walking with it for 20 years. He said he would never use it to hurt anyone and asked her to “call somebody.”
Then, not racist Cynthia Whitlatch said that she saw Wingate swing it at someone. She said he also hit a stop sign with it. She said she had it on video and audio. Another officer arrived on the scene, called Wingate “Sir” and asked for the club. Wingate politely handed it over.
Then they arrested Wingate, handcuffed him and took him to jail, where he spent the night.
Whitlatch never saw Wingate swing the golf club, but she wrote it up in her report. She let authorities file charges against Wingate for unlawful use of a weapon. She let him hire a lawyer. It was only after Wingate got in contact with state Rep. Dawn Mason that the police even acknowledged that footage of the arrest even existed. Mason is black, and police figured she’d make it one of those “Black Lives Matter” issues, so, of course, they wouldn’t let her see the video. Instead of getting loud, Mason left and came back with two white women.
“I just took some white women into the precinct with me,” said Mason, “who know they have privilege and know they can make a difference.”
For the full article visit: http://www.theroot.com/how-a-not-racist-cop-arrested-a-man-for-walking-while-1801052844